


The Phantom of St. Luke's

by AudeliaMarlowe



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Le Fantôme de l'Opéra | Phantom of the Opera & Related Fandoms
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Phantom of the Opera Fusion, Chameleon Arch, F/M, Gen, Teacher-Student Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-14
Updated: 2017-07-21
Packaged: 2018-12-02 00:02:51
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,973
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11497581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AudeliaMarlowe/pseuds/AudeliaMarlowe
Summary: Phantom of the Opera inspired Twissy academia AU. When Missy Saxon enrolls for her first year at St. Luke's University, she catches the eye of the mysterious Dr Erikson.





	1. Chapter 1

Who exactly was Dr Erikson? Missy read the note over again, maybe for the hundredth time.

Ms Saxon,  
You are cordially invited to join me on Friday, 9 September, at 13:00 in my offices on campus. I have heard of your talents and wish to speak with you regarding your future.  
Warmly,  
John Erikson, PhD

Missy shuddered. She was far too old to be this frightened of a professor, but was Dr Erikson even a professor? If the rumors were to be believed, he wasn’t even on the university’s payroll. He seemed to live in his offices, but disappear without a trace for weeks at a time. He was gruff and reclusive, they said, but his lectures were among the highest attended. He had a knack for explaining any subject in such a way that kept his audience in a trancelike state of rapt attention. And that was the other thing… what was he a Doctor of, exactly? His lectures ranged from classical music, to anthropology, to geology, to physics, to English literature, and beyond. He seemed, indeed, to be a Doctor of everything.  
When Missy’s roommate brought in the mail, their landlady had been sitting at the kitchen table working on some sort of scrapbook project.  
“It’s for you,” said Bill, “From someone called Erikson. There’s no stamp; it must’ve been hand-delivered.”  
Moira Valerius, their grandmotherly old landlady, seemed to jump in her seat. “You’d do best to avoid him, Missy dear. That man is trouble.”  
Bill and Missy had done their best to coax Mrs V. to expand on this, but she only muttered something about an archaeology professor going missing.  
Certainly that couldn’t be blamed on Dr Erikson. Certainly there was no real danger in going to a simple meeting during a professor’s office hours. But why, then, did Missy feel an almost electric tingle of anxiety running through her nerves as she stood outside his door? Why did her heart seem to beat at twice its usual rate? She reached into her oversized cardigan and felt for her father’s old broken pocket watch, a habit that usually seemed to calm her nerves. Today, however, there was no comfort in sentimental heirlooms. Missy took a deep breath and knocked four times on the office door.

A short bald man answered the door almost immediately.  
“Are you--”  
“No,” he said, his dark eyes seeming to bore into her. “Come with me, the Doctor is waiting.”  
As she followed the bald man, Missy noted that the office space seemed much larger than she would have expected. A sound of an electric guitar grew louder and louder as they walked down the hallway. As he opened the door at the end, Missy saw that an older man with wild hair was playing the guitar. He turned around and raised his bushy eyebrows at her, then dropped the guitar on a chair.  
“Saxon, Melissa Christine.”  
“What?”  
“That’s your name, isn’t it?”  
“Most people just call me Missy.”  
“Missy. Yes. Interesting. Do take a seat.” He gestured to another chair opposite a large, old-fashioned desk.  
She did as he said, still a little frightened, but also surprised at the man’s appearance. He was not the reclusive monster she was expecting.  
“Thank you, Nardole, that will be all,” the Doctor said, and the bald man nodded in return before leaving. The Doctor sat opposite Missy and steepled his fingers on the desk.  
“Why did you ask me to come here?” said Missy.  
“I was simply curious to meet you. You've been very successful in your first weeks here at St. Luke’s.”  
“Thank you, Dr Erikson, but I don't know why that should impress you.”  
“You scored 100% on your first exam in your physics class.”  
“I studied hard,” she shrugged.  
“You also received top marks on your essay in Dr Stahlman’s seminar.”  
“Petroleum engineering fascinates me.”  
“And on the pop quiz in Professor Summerfield’s class, another perfect score.”  
“I don’t know what to tell you, Dr Erikson.”  
“Just call me Doctor, please. Missy, you’re enrolled for 21 class hours this semester. This is your first semester, right?”  
Missy nodded.  
“All your classes are in different areas of science, some with labs, and two are small group seminars that are usually limited to third year students. This is your first year. Ignoring the fact that it would have been near-impossible for you to get approval to enroll in all these courses, this seems an odd choice. Additionally, you have not declared a major.”  
“I don’t want to limit myself, but I also don’t want to waste time. You must notice that I’m at least 10 years older than the others.”  
“Yes. Why did you wait to attend university? You obviously have the intelligence…”  
“I had planned on going sooner, but there was an accident.” She sighed. “My father and I were in a car accident, and he didn’t make it. I broke a lot of bones and had a brain injury. I had what they call post-traumatic amnesia for a long time. And after I’d recovered, I had to spend even more time away, working to support myself and save money.”  
“I’m sorry for your loss,” the Doctor said sincerely.  
“Thank you. See, my father was a professor at Cambridge, and I’ve promised him I’d go to university no matter how long it took.” She felt for the watch in her pocket again. “I don’t know why I’m telling you all this. It doesn’t matter.”  
“It does matter. I understand your situation a little better now, and I thank you for sharing with me.” He paused a moment. “Cambridge, you say?”  
“Yes, sir. St. Cedd’s. His name was Salyavin Saxon, did you know him?”  
Something sad flashed in the Doctor’s eyes. “No. No, I’ve never heard of him.”  
There was an awkward silence. Missy fidgeted in her chair.  
“Is there anything else, Doctor?”  
“Yes. Missy, I would like to ask you if you’d let me be your tutor… your mentor. Not that you need any help, but I think with a little guidance from me, you’d be unstoppable. What is your goal in coming to St. Luke’s?”  
“I… I just want to know everything I can. I want to…” she trailed off, not knowing how to put it into words.  
“What, rule the world?”  
“Not like that. I just want to be… the best. The master of everything, you know?”  
“I do.” There was another pause, and another near-imperceivable change in the Doctor’s expression. “So, do you accept my offer?”  
“I’m not sure I know the terms, Doctor.”  
He smiled. “Very wise. The terms are these: you will move into my rooms here on campus. You will spend your days learning all you can. You will be my protege. I will help you with your classwork, of course, but I will also teach you everything I know.”  
Missy looked shocked. “Move in with you? Doctor, I…”  
“Please don’t misunderstand my intentions. I only want to make things more convenient for both of us. I have plenty of room here, as you can see.”  
“What will you ask in return, then?”  
“Nothing but your complete devotion to your studies. Your companionship is enough.”  
“Doctor, I don’t know what to say… Will you give me time to think it over?”  
“Of course. Return the same time tomorrow with your answer. I’ll be waiting.”  
“I understand. Thank you for your offer.” Missy stood up to leave.  
“Nardole will see you out.”  
Missy hadn’t noticed the bald man return. Silently, he led her back down the hallway and back to the front door of the offices. Missy didn’t realise she was shaking until she was outside the building. She turned to look up at the Doctor’s window, and for an instant she thought she saw the flash of a blue light. Once she blinked, it was gone. Must have been her imagination.


	2. Chapter 2

Missy left her door open and flopped down on the bed. What was she going to tell the Doctor? It was certainly a generous offer, but there was something so strange about him. Missy just stared at the ceiling for a while, weighing the pros and cons, when she heard a knock at the door frame.  
It was Bill, her roommate. “You had that meeting today, right?”  
Missy motioned for her to come in and sit down. “I did.”  
“How’d it go?”  
“Um… weird.”  
Bill laughed. “I guess we knew it would be. What happened?”  
Missy told Bill about the offer, and when she was through, the other girl had a surprised look on her face.  
“Why would he want to tutor you? I mean, not that your company isn’t wonderful, but it seems more than a little odd.”  
“I don’t know. But I keep thinking about my father.”  
“What about him?”  
“He always said I was meant for great things. He said I’d been blessed by angels, and I should follow their lead.”  
Bill smiled. “But Missy--”  
“I know it’s weird, but... he’s gone now. Maybe he’s trying to tell me something? Maybe there really is an angel looking out for me. How else could I have ever even made it here?”  
“Missy, you’re smart enough on your own.”  
“I know I have some talents. With this Doctor, though, maybe I can achieve something truly great. What if I could make some scientific breakthrough, so that…”  
“So that what?”  
Missy sighed. “So that no one else ever has to choose to pull the plug on someone they love.”  
Bill was quiet for a minute. “I can’t imagine what you’ve gone through, Missy. I know that nothing I say could ever make it easier or change what happened, but I hope you know that I’m here for you. We haven’t known each other very long, but if I can help you…”  
“Thank you. I know.”  
“Have you made your choice, then?”  
“I think so.”  
Missy hadn’t really decided one way or the other. She lay awake most of the night, stewing it over. As she went back and forth over the decision, she realised that she probably wouldn’t know for sure until she actually opened her mouth and told the Doctor yes or no. When she finally fell asleep, she had fitful dreams of burning grass and robots falling from the sky.

The next day, Missy nervously walked back to the Doctor’s rooms. Once again, she met Nardole and followed him into the office.  
The Doctor was waiting for her, smiling. Beaming, in fact, as if he was welcoming back an old friend. It was in that moment that Missy knew what she would say.  
“I’ve come to tell you that I’ll accept your offer.” She found herself feeling much more confident than she’d expected. Suddenly, there was nothing scary about the Doctor at all.  
He wasn’t some kind of beast! He was just a man. A kind, old man with fluffy hair and eyebrows, and a brilliant smile. His rooms weren’t some kind of dark, musty lair. They were cosy and homey, friendly and lived in.  
“Excellent!” said the Doctor, clapping his hands. “Let me show you around.”  
The tour took longer than Missy thought it would. The Doctor’s offices and living quarters seemed to take up an impossible amount of space in the building, that couldn’t be accounted for from the outside. Missy mentioned something to this effect, and he brushed it away.  
Her room was small, but clean and welcoming. The only other odd thing about the whole apartment was the blue cabinet in the Doctor’s office, painted to look like an old police box. Missy asked about that as well, and he told her it was for storage.  
They met up with Nardole in the kitchen. He, too, appeared different to Missy. Not the Igor-esque henchman she’d seen before, Nardole now seemed like something of a children’s TV presenter. Quirky, but absolutely harmless. He offered her a cup of tea.  
“No thanks,” said Missy. “I need to get going and pack up my things, tell my landlady.”  
“Tell her not to worry about the rent. We’ll pay it for you through next month,” said the Doctor.  
“We will?” said Nardole, giving him a look.  
The Doctor was still beaming at her. Missy couldn’t help but return the smile. “I’ll be back later tonight,” she said.

Missy had expected to feel more conflicted about this choice, but she was positively giddy. Unfortunately the positive mood faded as she met Mrs Valerius in the hallway.  
“Missy! Bill said you were thinking about moving out!? What’s this all about?”  
Missy didn’t know what to say. “Mrs V, it’s nothing to do with you. And the Doctor’s offered to pay rent through next month…”  
“It’s something to do with that Doctor!?”  
“It is, Mrs V, I’m sorry.”  
The old woman’s face was turning red. “Are you going to be staying with him?”  
“I am, actually.”  
“It’s your choice. You dig your own grave.”  
Missy shuddered. She couldn’t let it get to her, though. She texted Bill, who came in to help her pack. At least Bill was happy for her. Missy had just finished stacking the last pair of shoes in her laundry basket when the doorbell rang downstairs.  
“I’ll get it,” said Bill. She ran down the stairs, and there was a muffled, surprised sounding conversation from the entryway.  
Before she knew it, the Doctor was standing in her doorway, eyebrows and all. He looked even sillier now, taken out of context.  
“What are you doing here?” Missy said, surprised. Had he come to take back the offer?  
“I figured you’d need help moving everything.”  
“You have good timing,” Bill said.  
“I get that a lot,” he replied, grabbing the laundry basket and heading back down the stairs.  
Missy and Bill took a lamp and a box of books and headed after him. He was busy loading up an old yellow convertible that looked absolutely ridiculous.  
“Are you sure everything’ll fit?” asked Bill.  
“It’s got more space than you’d think, don’t worry,” he said, taking the box and the lamp.  
Indeed, everything did fit in the car, and they were loaded up in about a quarter of an hour. Missy gave Bill a hug and promised to text her later, and got in the passenger seat next to the Doctor.  
Back on campus, Nardole helped them unload, and it didn’t take long before Missy was fully moved into the apartment. She sat on her new bed, reflecting on the general weirdness of the past few days. She checked her email and texted Bill that everything was okay, then started to reorganise the books on her new shelf. What a wild Saturday night, she thought to herself with a smirk.  
There was a knock at the door. It turned out to be the Doctor, holding three old books.  
“I’ve brought you some things to read. I don’t expect you to get started tonight, but tomorrow we should look at some of your class reading, and if you have time…”  
“Sure,” she said, taking the books and stacking them at the end of the shelf. “Thanks.”  
The Doctor hesitated for a moment in the doorway, as if he wasn’t sure what else to say. “Alright, goodnight then.”  
“Are you going to bed?”  
“No, I don’t sleep very much. I’ll try not to bother you.”  
“It won’t bother me at all,” Missy replied. “I’m not very tired, actually.”  
“Oh… do you want to uh… hang out?”  
He was adorable, like a grandpa and and awkward teenager all at the same time. Yet she instinctively knew his intentions were still pure. She followed him to the den and sat on an old floral couch.  
“Do you want to watch a movie?” he asked.  
“Not really,” she shook her head. “Why don’t you tell me more about yourself?”  
“I’ll do what I can.”  
“Where are you from?”  
“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.” He bumbled around, before producing a packet of crisps and sitting at the other end of the couch.  
Missy laughed. “Alright. How long have you been teaching?”  
“Ah, now, that would be telling, wouldn’t it.” He offered her a crisp and she took one.  
“Are you going to give me any straight answers?”  
“If you ask the right questions, yes.”  
“Why did you really ask me to come here?”  
“I told you yesterday.”  
“No, but really. You’ve obviously been stalking me… don’t look at me like that, how else would you get all that information about my classes.? What made you do it?”  
He sighed, as if the weight of the world was on his shoulders and it would come crashing down with the words he chose. “When I saw you in the library in the first week, you reminded me of someone I used to know.”  
“Who?”  
“Just a friend. Someone I knew a long time ago.”  
“In the galaxy far, far away?”  
He chuckled. “You’ve got it.”  
“So you followed me around because I look like your old friend?”  
“No, you don’t really look like him--”  
“Him!”  
“Yes, him. He was my best friend, but there’s something about you that makes me think of him.” He had a wistful look on his face. “Has anyone ever told you that you have an old soul?”  
“Maybe. How could you tell all this without even meeting me?” she asked.  
“I just have a particularly good read of people.”  
“Okay. That’s fair, I guess.”  
They sat for a little bit and shared the crisps. He still seemed pretty mysterious to Missy, but she was starting to really warm to the old man. It was going to be a fun year.


	3. Chapter 3

In the morning, Missy woke up late. The Doctor and Nardole had let her sleep. She had a shower and found her way to the kitchen again, to check for something to eat.  
“Good morning!” said the Doctor, appearing out of nowhere. “Tea and toast?”  
“Sounds perfect, thanks. Where’s your, uh…?”  
“Nardole? He’s running some errands for me.”  
They sat at the table as Missy ate. It felt like it should have been an awkward silence, but it wasn’t. Their talk the night before must have made them more comfortable with each other.  
“What would you like us to work on today?” Missy asked.  
“I was thinking we’d just look at some of your assigned readings and discuss them. Nothing too much.”  
“Okay,” she said, finishing her breakfast.  
Missy got some books and notes from her room and met the Doctor in his office. She confessed that she hadn’t finished one of the readings for her Biology class yet, but he didn’t seem bothered. He sat next to her and read aloud while she followed along, and they stopped at various points to discuss certain points or for Missy to make notes in the margins. Next they did the same with her Engineering course. Before they realised it, it was late in the afternoon. Nardole came into the office asking if they needed anything.  
“No,” replied the Doctor, “What about you, Missy.”  
“I’m fine.”  
“We need to go out for a while,” the Doctor told her, giving Nardole a look. “You can stay here or go out around campus. You have your key?”  
She nodded.  
“Alright, we’ll be back in a few hours.”  
Missy told the men goodbye and went to go put away her things. She was alone for the first time in the big apartment. Was this some kind of test? Were there cameras watching what she would do with the two of them gone?  
She thought it best just to keep to her own things, just in case, and she went to go waste time on her laptop. A little while later text came in from Bill, asking if she wanted to meet up. Missy grabbed a jacket and headed out through the office, but the blue cabinet caught her eye.  
She probably shouldn’t mess with it, she knew, but there was something weird about that piece of furniture. For one thing, when she got closer, it seemed to make a very slight humming sound.  
Missy put her hand up to the handle, intending to test the lock, when she felt a sharp electric shock. The cabinet was humming louder, now, she was sure, and radiating heat. Missy backed away and left the apartment.

Across campus, she met Bill at the student union building.   
“How’s your new boyfriend?” Bill asked loudly.  
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she hissed. “Will you stop?”  
“I’m just teasing! But really, how has it been?”  
“So far, so good. We talked a bit last night and did some reading today.”  
“He hasn’t been weird?”  
“He did say one weird thing. He said I remind him of his old best friend.”  
“That is weird,” Bill replied. “But I guess it’s harmless.”  
“I thought the same thing. How’s Mrs V?”  
“She hasn’t said anything to me, but she seems angry. Angry footsteps around the house, you know.”  
“Yeah. Tell her I’m sorry, again, if you get a chance.”  
“I’m sure she’ll calm down.”  
“I hope so. Nobody wants an angry landlady.”  
“Still not as weird as your situation,” Bill said with a smile.  
“Nothing is as weird as this situation!”  
“I can’t believe he let you out.”  
“He’s not got me locked up. I promise, if he does anything really weird, I’ll let you know.”  
“I know you will.”  
They talked a bit more, and got something to eat. It was dark before Missy realised she should be getting back to the apartment. She told Bill she’d see her tomorrow in Physics, and hurried back to her new home.  
She went to open the door with the key, but the Doctor opened it before she had a chance.  
“Hey,” she said, “Sorry it’s late.”  
“I’m not keeping you prisoner or anything,” he said with a smile. “Don’t worry about that kind of thing. Have you eaten?”  
“Mmhmm. Grabbed something with Bill.” Missy followed him in through to the office and sat in one of the old chairs.  
“She seems like a nice girl, that Bill.” He sat across from her.  
“She is! I was lucky to get her as a housemate. She could probably make friends with a brick wall.”  
“You’re a pretty good conversationalist yourself!”  
“Not always. You just seem to bring it out in me.”  
“Hey, by the way, guess what I’m doing tomorrow?” he said, with a youthful grin.  
“You tell me.”  
“I’m guest lecturer in your Physics class!”  
“Well, that’s wonderful. I finally get to see one of the mysterious lectures from the mysterious Doctor.”  
“Mysterious?”  
“That’s what everybody says,” Missy told him, before realising that he didn’t know. It was too late to take it back, though.  
“Why do they think I’m mysterious?”  
Missy squirmed in her chair. “It must be… the keeping to yourself thing? Guest lectures and not a whole lot of other interaction? You’re kind of a legend here, and I think some people are afraid of you.”  
He looked serious. “Are you afraid of me, Missy?”  
“No, I… I mean, I was a little nervous, but you’re very nice…”  
“I don’t want you to be uncomfortable. Please, ask me anything, and I’ll answer if I can. Come to me when you’re concerned. I want us to have open communication. There’s nothing worse than two people having a problem that could be fixed if they’d just talk to each other.”  
“I agree,” she said firmly. “And I’m not uncomfortable, I promise. You have a lovely place, here.”  
“Thank you.” The happy wrinkles were back, by his eyes.  
“There is one thing I’d like to ask about, though.”  
“Oh?”  
“Yes, your storage cabinet. Earlier it seemed to be making a noise, and,” she paused, not sure how to make it sound like she wasn’t snooping. “I went to go check it, to see if anything was wrong, and I think it shocked me.”  
He jumped up, and went to the blue cabinet in the corner. Missy hoped she hadn’t said anything wrong.  
He turned back towards her. “It looks fine. I’m not sure what it could have been,” he said. “You know what, Missy, I’m suddenly feeling tired. I think it would be best if we all turned in for the night. Lots of work to do tomorrow, you know?”  
Missy nodded. She knew when she was being dismissed.   
After she left, the Doctor quietly locked the doors from the office to the corridors. He took a different key, unlocked the cabinet, and stepped inside.

 

The next morning went pretty much the same way as the one before, only earlier this time, and Nardole was the one in charge of tea and toast.  
The Doctor and Missy decided to walk together to class. It was a beautiful day on campus, and Missy was in better spirits than she’d been in ages. She thought she saw the Doctor frowning at her, but it must have been her imagination, because when their eyes met he beamed that brilliant smile at her again.  
Missy and Bill sat together in the lecture hall. They weren’t sure what the Doctor was going to be lecturing on. It turned out to have something to do with calculating dimensions in space. Bill seemed absolutely captivated, as did everyone else in the hall, but it just made Missy’s head hurt.  
She told the Doctor this, afterwards, in the office.  
He chuckled. “Made your head hurt? You’re certainly smart enough to understand these things, Missy.”  
“It’s not that. It literally made my head feel like drums were pounding inside.”  
He frowned. “I’m sorry. I’ll go ask Nardole to grab you some medicine.”  
“Thanks.”  
He returned quickly with a bottle of pills and a glass of water. “You’ll feel better soon.”  
“Can you explain again about the relative dimensions thing?”  
He did, and Missy did start to feel better.  
She went to two more classes, then came back at night for spaghetti with Nardole and the Doctor. After only a couple of days, they were already such a little family, Missy thought. She was starting to like Nardole a lot more, too.  
After dinner, the Doctor disappeared and Missy offered to help him with the washing up. “How long have you been working for the Doctor?” she asked.  
Nardole puffed out his cheeks. “Oh, it seems like ages now. He saved my life, and then we were friends. He offered me a place to stay, and it’s been like this for a long time.”  
“He saved your life!?”  
“Yeah. Don’t really like to talk about it, but he’s really helped me put my life back together.”  
“I have a feeling he’s doing the same for me.”  
“That’s the Doctor. Always trying to save people.”  
“So he’s had a lot of… friends?”  
“Well, I wouldn’t say that many here at St. Luke’s, but yeah, he’s always got someone as a companion or someone to travel with. He’s done a lot of travelling in his day, you know.”  
“I didn’t. I’ll have to ask him for some stories. I’d love to travel someday.”

She did ask him, later in the den, when they were both reading by lamplight.  
“Nardole says you’ve travelled lots of places. Where have you gone?”  
The Doctor put down his book. “Ah. Just about everywhere.”  
“That’s not an answer,” she said, already tired of his tendency to skirt around questions.  
“I suppose it’s not.” He paused. “I’ve been to America a lot of times, and all around Europe. To a wonderful monastery in Tibet. Some lovely time in Egypt with good friends, time with the Aztecs…”  
“You mean Aztec ruins?”  
The Doctor seemed to snap to attention. “Yes, yes of course. Beautiful culture.”  
“I have to say I’m jealous. I’ve never been much of anywhere.”  
The Doctor looked at Missy with that gaze that seemed to cut right through her. “You haven’t?”  
“No. I suppose my life must seem pretty unimportant and plain to you.”  
“Don’t ever say that. No one is unimportant.”  
“It feels that way, anyway. There are so many things that seem fuzzy to me, blurred around the edges.”  
“Since your accident?”  
“It must be. I have gaps in my memory from childhood, but I know my father was loving and kind, and a brilliant man. I never knew my mother.”  
“I’m very sorry for that.”  
“It’s okay. I just wish there were pictures. I seem to have lost so many things. All I have saved from my dad is his old pocket watch.”  
The Doctor seemed to draw in a gasp of air through his teeth, and the mood in the room changed.  
“Is everything okay?” Missy asked him.  
“Yes, everything is fine. I’m… just sad for you, that’s all.”  
“That’s kind of you. It’s good of you to care.”  
“Yes,” he said, lost in thought.  
Missy went back to her book.

Tuesday and Wednesday were full of classes and more revising with the Doctor. It was hard work, and Missy wasn’t sleeping very well at night, but she kept on going. On Thursday in the afternoon, he told her it was time to learn something extra. Missy was excited.  
He pulled out a book, a notebook and some pens, and looked at her very seriously.  
“Missy, have you ever thought about time travel?”  
She tried to match his serious expression, but couldn’t. “Surely you’re joking.”  
“Of course not! This is one of the things we’ll be discussing. It’s an expansion of what I spoke about in your physics lecture.”  
“You’re going to teach me how to travel in time?”  
“Theoretically, yes, it is possible. I want you to understand the scientific concepts behind what you may think of as fiction.”  
They spent a total of 3 hours discussing theories and describing wormholes. At the end, Missy’s head was pounding again.  
“I think this is all a bit much for me, Doctor. Do you mind if I lie down before dinner?”  
He nodded. Missy ended up sleeping straight through dinnertime and straight through to Friday morning, when Nardole knocked at her door to remind her of her labs. No dreams this time, thankfully.  
Frowning, Missy pulled on some casual clothes and ran across campus to meet Bill, and their friends Heather and Shireen in the first lab of the day. She got there just in time.  
“Hey!” said Bill. “Running late today?”  
“I guess so. We had a big physics lesson last night and it wore me out. I just woke up.”  
“Don’t work yourself too hard,” Bill said, lining up the equipment for their lab.  
“Not possible,” Missy smiled.  
But honestly, she was glad when the labs and lectures were over for the day. Thank goodness she didn’t have big gaps in her schedule on Fridays. Missy trudged back across campus, past the library, towards the office/apartment building.   
The Doctor was waiting for her, standing by a statue on the quad. He looked a little like he was having a staring contest with it. “Doctor?” she shouted, waving at him.  
He looked startled, and did something of a double-take at the statue, as if genuinely relieved that it hadn’t moved.  
“Missy!” he said, eyes crinkling happily. He offered her his arm like an old-fashioned gentleman.  
“It’s nice to see you out and about again,” she said as they walked together. “You spend too much time cooped up in your rooms.”  
“Ahhh no, I get out more than you’d think.”  
“So, what’s the plan for this weekend?”  
“More wormholes, and maybe some biology work? Your textbook doesn’t go into enough detail…” He was off on a tangent about nerve cells by the time they were back home, and Missy grinned. She loved how excited he got about things.

Missy and Nardole cooked together that night, a nice curry. Then, they all settled down in the den for a movie. The Doctor was apparently very interested in watching some old film that was on, something about a war. He kept grumbling about things they’d got wrong.

That night she dreamed again of fire, of screaming and pain. Missy was running, but couldn’t move fast enough. The screaming grew louder, and she woke up, the sound still echoing through her small room. Her pajamas stuck to her skin with sweat, and she felt breathless, as if she had really been running from some kind of terrible danger.  
Missy was debating whether or not to get up for a drink of water when there was a knock at her door.  
“Come in,” she croaked.  
It was the Doctor. “I heard screaming,” he said. “Is everything alright?”  
Missy realised she was crying. “It should be. It was just a nightmare.”  
“Is it okay if I sit with you for a moment?”  
She nodded, and he sat at the edge of her bed.  
“Thanks for checking on me,” she sniffed. “I don’t know what that’s about. I’ve been having terrible dreams lately.”  
He had a serious look on his face, which surprised Missy. It was just a nightmare.  
“What are they about?”  
“I’m not sure. There always seems to be fire, and lots of running. Sometimes robots.”  
“Robots?”  
“Mmhmm. Big metal bulbous things with guns attached.”  
“That sounds terrifying.”  
“I’m way too old to be afraid of a nightmare.”  
“You’re never too old to have any kind of feeling. Fear is just a feeling.”  
“Thank you, Doctor,” she said.  
He got up to leave.  
“No!” she said. “I know it’s silly, but would you please stay here until I fall asleep.”  
He smiled. “Of course.” He sat back down.  
“You can lie down if you want, I know you’re not… like that.”  
“If you’d like.”  
He stretched out on top of the duvet next to her, and before long she was asleep again. The Doctor knew he should leave, but she was still shaking in her sleep. He hoped it wasn’t anything as bad as before. He wished he could explain it all away to her.  
In the morning, Missy woke up with the covers scrunched down to the end of the bed. She found herself wrapped up in the Doctor’s arms, with the old man still asleep. Oh dear, she thought.  
She stayed there a moment, trying to think of a way to detangle herself from him without making it obvious. She’d asked him to stay. What if he got the wrong idea? What if?  
But would it be so bad? Missy found herself looking at the Doctor’s face as he slept. He looked so peaceful like this. He really was an attractive man, she thought, before telling herself that was ridiculous. She yawned loudly, and pulled away, and he woke up.  
“Oh! Good morning, Missy,” he said quietly but surprised. Missy supposed he was just as surprised at the situation as she was.  
“Good morning. Um, sorry about making you look after me…”  
“Don’t worry about it. I’m happy to help.”  
They should really get out of bed, Missy thought. But it was so comfortable, and he was looking at her with such sweet eyes. Oh dear.  
“Hey, I, uh, you know, I’m sorry also, about…”  
“That’s okay too. Nothing wrong with a little platonic cuddling now and then.”  
“Sure,” she said, sitting up. Her hair was a mess. She really hoped Nardole didn’t see them like this. At least they weren’t naked or anything.  
“I’ll let you get dressed. See you later in the office?”  
Missy couldn’t manage any words, but she nodded, and he left.


	4. Chapter 4

They didn’t mention it again all day, even though they spent it together. Missy was exhausted by the time she met up with Bill for dinner.  
“No offense, mate, but you look dead tired,” Bill said.  
Missy just nodded. “I think I’m going to ask for a break tomorrow. I’ve been going practically nonstop for a week now, and I’m not sleeping very well at night.”  
“What’s up?”  
“Just keep having weird nightmares.”  
“Maybe it’s that creepy old building.”  
“No, I had some before I moved, they’ve just gotten worse.”  
“That really sucks,” Bill said.  
“I know. Let’s talk about something else. What about you? What have I missed with you and Mrs V. over the past week?”  
“Not a whole lot going on with me. V’s calmed down a bit. She finished her scrapbook and she’s knitting a massive scarf now.”  
“Well, at least that’s practical,” Missy laughed.  
When they were finished, Bill walked Missy back to the old building.  
“See you later,” Bill told her, squeezing her arm and giving an almost flirty wink.  
Missy shook her head as if to clear it. What was going on with her, lately? She climbed the stairs and unlocked their front door, walking down the hallway to a loud buzzing sound.  
“Doctor!?” she shouted. The buzzing stopped suddenly and the office door opened. The Doctor’s hair was sticking up even more ridiculously than usual. He looked like a true mad scientist.   
“Hello, Missy!” he shouted.  
Nardole bustled around the room picking up bits of paper. “You’re going to scare her, Doctor.”  
“I was just working on a project… what do the kids call it? Upcycling! Upcycling an old printer.”  
“That’s great, Doctor,” she said.  
Nardole just shook his head. “Making a mess is more like it.”  
The bits and pieces of the printer sat on the floor in a heap. Missy stepped around them and sat in a chair across from the blue cabinet.  
“What were you making?” she asked.  
“An automatic artwork generator. It almost worked, too.”  
Missy picked up one of the pieces of paper that Nardole had missed. It appeared to show a very pixelated version of the Mona Lisa riding a camel.  
“Ah well,” said Nardole, on his way out of the room. “If at first you don’t succeed, complain about it for a week and then set the evidence on fire.”  
Missy met the Doctor’s eyes and they laughed together.  
“I can help you finish cleaning up, if you want,” she said.  
“No, it’ll keep until tomorrow. Come on, let’s just go watch something.”  
“Thank goodness,” she sighed. “I need a break.”  
He looked at her curiously. “Don’t let me wear you out.”  
“I promise I’m fine,” Missy told him, leading the way to the den.  
There wasn’t much on tv, just some panel show with people trying too hard to be funny, but Missy was glad to have her brain on a break. She let herself lean into the Doctor sitting next to her, and remembered what had happened the night before.  
He tensed a little, but didn’t say anything. She felt him relax and then, surprisingly, he put his arm around her.  
It shouldn’t be this comfortable, she thought vaguely. He’s nowhere near my age, and he’s a professor. Why does being near him make me feel like a sleepy puppy? She yawned.  
“You can go to bed if you want,” he said.  
“Yeah. Yeah, I’m off. See you in the morning,” Missy said with another yawn.  
He yawned back at her. Nice to know he was susceptible to those kinds of things.

The nightmares came again, but she was ready this time. She realised it was a dream and forced herself to wake up. This time she would go get some water. She patted down the little hall to the office, then stopped. There was a blue light coming from somewhere… Missy looked around, but couldn’t find the source, even when she ran through the office door. There was something wrong with the room, though. She took another glance around the office, and couldn’t believe what she saw. The Doctor’s blue storage cabinet was missing! Surely it had been there earlier. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, and it was back. There was another flash of light, and a grinding sound.  
The cabinet door popped open, and the Doctor stepped out, whistling until he met Missy’s eyes.  
That was the last thing she remembered before she fainted.

She woke up again in her bed, with the Doctor standing over her.  
“What happened?”  
He frowned. “You were screaming again. More nightmares?”  
“Yes, I think so…” Missy’s mind was in a fog. “Wait! No, that’s not it. There was something weird about your office.”  
“You’re dreaming about my office, now?”  
“No, it wasn’t a dream. It was real! I swear it was. Your cabinet was full of light, and it disappeared, and it came back…” She trailed off. She sounded like a complete nutter. “How did I get back in bed?”  
“Missy, you’re confused. You need to settle down.”  
She was shaking. “This wasn’t like any of my other dreams.”  
The Doctor sat down on the bed, holding Missy by the shoulders. She leaned on his chest and breathed in deeply.  
“I didn’t realise it was getting so bad. We’ll take tomorrow off, how about that?”  
Missy was sobbing. “But what about…”  
“Just leave it for the day, hmm? Sunday, the day of rest. Shhh, shhh.”  
She calmed down a little. Her tears were soaking through his pajama top.  
“I hate to ask you this, but will you stay with me again? Will you hold me?”  
He paused, briefly. “Missy… I,” he blinked, “Of course I will.”  
Missy pushed back the covers and he climbed into the bed behind her.  
Spooning with an old man, thought Missy. This is my life now. The worst part was, she loved it.

They spent Sunday relaxing together. Just playing chess, reading, or watching TV. The next week went by in a blur. Lectures, labs, work with the Doctor. He was teaching her his odd brand of physics, but he’d started in on other topics, too. Things like the entire history of the planet Earth, geology of different planets, even the history of things like alchemy. Missy found herself struggling to keep up, but she was having the time of her life. And every night, she would go to bed with the Doctor by her side.  
Is that so wrong? She asked herself? Is it really anything sexual, to literally sleep with someone? He seemed to be the only thing keeping the nightmares away. With him holding her, Missy dreamed of sun shining through silver trees and vast, dusty libraries. In these dreams, she would often try to pick up a book to read, but find it filled with incomprehensible swirls where the text should be.  
On Saturday morning, she woke up in the Doctor’s arms and saw the old man smiling at her.  
“How’d you sleep?” he asked.  
“Great! You seem to be my lucky charm,” Missy replied.  
He was still staring deep into her eyes, as if searching for something he’d lost.  
“What do you want to do today? I was thinking we’d…”  
“Actually, is it okay if I meet up with Bill today? We were planning on studying a little, then doing something fun later.”  
“Oh… oh sure, whatever you’d like.”  
“I hope that’s okay with you. I just haven’t been off campus in about two weeks.”  
“Of course! You know you’re not a prisoner,” he said.  
“Thanks.” She nearly kissed him, then. What was that? Some sort of reflex? Missy hopped out of bed and went to make some tea.

Later, in the library, Bill and Missy were half-studying, half-gossiping.  
“It’s good to hang out again,” Bill said. “I’ve pretty much just been seeing you in class, and that’s it.”  
“I know! I suck at texting… thanks for making me to do something with you today. Where are we going tonight?”  
“Heather knows this bar that’s got an open mic night and some good drink specials, so I thought we’d give it a try.”  
“Sure! I’m up for anything,” Missy said.  
Missy went back to her room to get ready, and ran into the Doctor on her way back out.  
“Hey,” he said casually, “Going out again?”  
“Yeah, just with Bill and some other girls. I won’t be too late.”  
“It doesn’t matter if you are! Just stay safe, okay?”  
“Yeah. See you later,” she said, smiling.  
Bill met her outside, and they walked together to the bar. It was pretty close to campus, but across a main road. Bill took Missy’s hand and they ran across the street, towards the bar.  
There was music, not too loud, and a lot of people talking. Missy was happy to be in a crowd of people again, somewhere other than a lecture hall.  
Bill offered to buy her a beer, and she nodded. They took their drinks towards the music, and Missy actually gasped.  
What was he doing there? How did he sneak in without her noticing? She’d just said goodbye to him on campus, but here was the Doctor, playing his electric guitar and looking lost in thought.  
“Hey,” said Bill, “Isn’t that your Doctor Erikson?”  
“Yeah… that’s the Doctor. I don’t get it, how could he get here so fast?”  
“What?”  
“I just told him bye, standing in his office. There’s no way he could have gotten over here before us.”  
Bill shrugged. “Maybe he knows a shortcut.”  
“Maybe…”  
Missy dropped the subject. It wasn’t important, and Heather had arrived, so they had things to think about besides her mysterious tutor. He didn’t seem to notice them, at any rate.  
A couple drinks and lots of laughs later, the three girls decided to leave before one of them tried to get up on the open mic and do something foolish. Heather hugged them both and walked back to her flat, and Bill said she’d go with Missy back to campus.  
The crisp autumn air seemed especially cold tonight, as Missy pulled her long sleeves down over her fingers. She looked at Bill, and the other girl smiled at her and took her hand again as they walked.  
“I had fun tonight,” Bill said.  
“Me too.”  
They were almost back, but Missy didn’t want to say goodbye. There was something different in the air, not just the cool air but something surrounding them that felt… soft. Comfortable.  
They were outside the building, now, and Missy gave Bill’s hand a squeeze. They hugged, then looked at each other. There was just a moment’s hesitation before they both leaned in and kissed.  
Missy was surprised at herself. She’d never thought much about kissing another girl, but it felt perfectly normal. Good, even. They broke away from each other and smiled again.  
“I’m sorry, I…” Bill started.  
“No! Don’t apologize!”  
“I didn’t even ask you, and we hadn’t talked about it, and we’re friends--”  
Missy decided to be bold and interrupt her with another kiss, harder this time. When they broke apart again, Bill’s eyes were wider than she’d ever seen.  
“Glad to know you like girls, then, I guess,” Bill said, mildly shocked.  
“Yeah. Okay. Um, goodnight, then?” Missy felt her face turning red.  
“Goodnight. I’ll… text you later?”  
“Sure. Goodnight.” Missy climbed the stairs and unlocked the front door, then walked down the hallway once again to the sound of the Doctor’s guitar. It was the same song he’d been playing in the bar.  
She cleared her throat loudly so he’d notice her.  
“Oh! Hi Missy, did you have a good time?”  
“Yes… why did you follow me to the bar?”  
“Hmm?”  
“You were there, playing that song, for open mic night.”  
“I guess I was, wasn’t I.” There was an odd, unreadable expression on his face.  
“I didn’t even tell you which bar we were going to.”  
“I didn’t mean to interrupt you with your friends, Missy, honestly.”  
“No, it’s fine. You’ll just have to show me your shortcut sometime.”  
“I… guess I will.”  
Missy yawned. “I’m going to take a shower and then sleep. You ready for bed?”  
“Soon. I just need to pick up a few things around here, first,” he told her, glancing at the cabinet.


End file.
